ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party Senator Farhatullah Babar on Monday urged parliament to play its role in unearthing the elements behind the recent disappearance and appearance of ‘bloggers’.
He was speaking on a motion moved by Senator Usman Kakar and him.
Police and state agencies have failed to find out the truth and the ‘bloggers’ and their families are not willing to talk, he said.
In such a situation parliament must step forward and fulfill its responsibilities towards citizens’ freedom. If it was not done and parliament shunned its responsibility the practices of making citizens disappear with impunity will become a norm, he warned.
He said that if the ‘bloggers’ were guilty of blasphemy they must be punished in accordance with law. However, condemning them in the media without proof and without trial raised serious questions about the motive behind their disappearances, he said.
“There is a lingering suspicion that those criticizing the state narratives on security issues are sought to be silenced by accusing them of blasphemy. If this indeed is true, and if not checked in time, it will spell disaster,” he warned.
He said that parliament should play a role to encourage the reappeared persons reveal the truth. The practice of watching the disappearances and reappearances from the sidelines as if nothing had happened is abdication of responsibility and it must not be allowed to gain roots, he said.
He said that the road to rule of law may be long but it should not deter parliament from ensuring that rule of law prevailed in the country. “Parliament must back the investigators and extend right assurances to the missing persons and their families to reach to the truth and thus help end the practice,” he said.